Accelerating implementation of North–South expressway projects

Accordingly, these four expressway projects have a total length of over 231 km, with a total investment of nearly 50 trillion VND, accounting for around 23% of the required volume to meet the government’s goal of putting 3,000 km of expressways into operation by 2025.

Removing “bottleneck” of site clearance

During a field inspection in June, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh requested Quang Ngai province to fully complete compensation and site clearance by June 15. However, there are still some problems in several locations.

To speed up project progress, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Binh has required the People’s Committees of Da Nang City and Quang Ngai Province to firmly direct relevant agencies and local authorities to completely resolve difficulties and hand over all construction sites to investors and contractors by July 15, 2025. He also called for strengthening communication and encouraging households to create conditions for contractors to work a “three shifts, four teams” schedule to ensure project progress.

“The Chairpersons of the Da Nang City and Quang Ngai Provincial People’s Committees will take full responsibility before the government and the Prime Minister if delays continue,” Deputy Prime Minister Binh affirmed.

He further requested the Ministry of Construction to strengthen inspections, supervise, and direct investors and contractors to increase manpower, equipment, material stockpiling, and financial resources; organise continuous shifts; and work through holidays and weekends to meet the committed progress.

He emphasised that construction quality, environmental sanitation, and labour safety must be strictly ensured, and warned not to ignore quality standards for the sake of progress. Any violations, such as shortening the construction process and procedures, using substandard materials, or neglecting environmental and labour safety requirements, will be fully the responsibility of the involved parties.

Whole system is determined to take action

According to the report of Project Management Unit 2 under the Ministry of Construction, the investor of the Quang Ngai-Hoai Nhon expressway project, during the construction of the Km00-Km30 section, as of early July 2025, the investor and contractors were still stuck in the site clearance work at some locations that could affect the progress of implementation. Although the sites had been officially handed over in communes of Nghia Giang, Dinh Cuong, and Mo Duc, some households are deliberately obstructing contractor access and preventing construction activities.

To ensure the expressway can be put into operation by September, as directed by the government and Ministry of Construction, the Project Management Unit 2 has formally requested Quang Ngai Province to direct local authorities and related units to promptly resolve obstacles and hand over the site by July 10. For areas where residents actively block construction, the investor has requested Quang Ngai Province to deploy security forces to protect construction teams and ensure uninterrupted operations.

Previously on July 4, the Ministry of Construction also issued Document No. 6347/BXD-KTQLXD sent to the Quang Ngai Provincial People’s Committee on urging relevant local agencies to intervene, ensure security at obstructed locations, and help contractors maintain the required pace.

This is the “sprint” phase of the entire North–South expressway project, therefore, the government has given many drastic instructions. However, to ensure on-time completion, it is necessary to have close coordination among agencies, local authorities, investors, and contractors. A constant communication channel is particularly needed to quickly address emerging issues, especially those related to site clearance.

On construction sites, contractors are pushing at full capacity, mobilising personnel and equipment and continuously implementing construction. On the Quang Ngai–Hoai Nhon section alone, over 3,000 workers and 1,100 large, modern pieces of equipment are deployed, divided into 50 main construction teams across the site.

Currently, about 92% of the crushed stone base has been completed, and about 60km of asphalt surfacing is underway. It is expected that the project will complete the asphalt surfacing by September. All 77 bridges have completed their substructures; the installation of girders and the construction of the bridge deck have been basically completed. Contractors are also simultaneously carrying out traffic safety installations and electrical-mechanical equipment setup along the route. To date, the project output has reached approximately 9.5 trillion VND, equivalent to about 72% of the total workload.

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